


the study of how you talk to me

by dons



Series: lost in translation [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Mentioned Mark Tuan, Mentioned Minatozaki Sana, angsty but only if you choose for it to be
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-11-13 03:48:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18024107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dons/pseuds/dons
Summary: “come home safe, baby,” dongyoung says to him. “i love you.”“i love you more,” taeyong replies, and there is only a faint sound of jaehyun blasting his billboard pop music before taeyong hangs up.dongyoung stares at his phone and hugs it to his chest.-there is something severely wrong with this relationship.





	the study of how you talk to me

**Author's Note:**

> hi bubs! i wrote this on a very quick train of thought .. 
> 
> this is how it works: to read it as a regular fluff story, please do not read the end note! it will contain a little something that might change your point of view once you read the story again afterwards. 
> 
> if you want to read this twice over, just look at the end note and try and look for the clues that lead to that conclusion! i hid a few but they're very, very subtle and are only something you would really know if you could just. ... feel it.
> 
> thank you all!

sunday

  
  
  


dongyoung prefers calling taeyong over texting him because he likes to hear his voice. it’s a fact that he’s told him a few times before, so taeyong knows that dongyoung is replacing his lack of texts with a considerable flurry of calls.

 

there is no particular routine, but dongyoung likes calling taeyong on sundays. they live together in the same dorm room, but taeyong- unlike dongyoung- has a lecture on sunday early morning, and finishes just in time to bring back a lunch for them both to have.

 

maybe it is a routine. but dongyoung likes it. he likes lounging on his bed with his headphones in his ears, bass echoing in his eardrums. 

 

sometimes when he waits, he sings. taeyong had bought him a nice microphone for his birthday the year before, and sometimes, jaebeom from the year above (someone he’d met in one of the library study rooms) meets with him and they make something and post it on jaebeom’s soundcloud.

 

but today, dongyoung feels like waking up early. there is something nice in particular about the sun today- it shines on the carpet, unlike his smooth wood flooring at home, but it is warm on his socks when he stands there. 

 

he gets a call from taeyong before he even reaches for the phone. it’s uncommon but well accepted.

 

“hello?” dongyoung says, and he is already smiling before taeyong says a word.

 

_ “hi doie!”  _ taeyong replies. his voice is happy and chipper and dongyoung wishes he could hear that voice every day and every night.  _ “are you okay? not too bored?”  _

 

“i’m good, hyung, just doing nothing.” 

 

taeyong laughs and dongyoung feels himself fall in love for the hundredth time. 

 

_ “i just got out of my lecture. i’m with jaehyun right now and we’re going to go get lunch. are you craving anything in particular?” _

 

dongyoung itches his left ear. “i kind of want sushi?” hold on. maybe not for takeout. “i changed my mind. i want something cheesy.”

 

taeyong is thoughtful, of course, and takes it all in with a stride.  _ “are you up for pizza? we can head there right now.” _

 

“yeah,” dongyoung says. “thanks yongie.”

 

taeyong is always thoughtful, but dongyoung feels like he’s being treated especially well. he wonders if there’s something he’s forgotten- or maybe if taeyong is just in a spectacular mood. he really hopes it’s the latter- taeyong’s been blue recently, drawing scribbles over his biology notes, sleeping late and waking up early.

 

_ “anything for you. is there anything you want to do in the afternoon?” _

 

he thinks. “i want to watch a movie with you. maybe cuddle. i don’t feel like going out.”

 

_ “you’re such a homebody,”  _ taeyong teases, and dongyoung knows his lips curl up in a small smile.  _ “but you’re my homebody.” _

 

in the background, he hears jaehyun shouting something. jaehyun has always been one to poke fun at their ‘lovey-dovey’ relationship, but dongyoung knows he has a crush of his own- that he won’t tell dongyoung, no matter what sort of trauma he puts him through.

 

“come home safe, baby,” dongyoung says to him. “i love you.”

 

_ “i love you more,”  _ taeyong replies, and there is only a faint sound of jaehyun blasting his billboard pop music before taeyong hangs up.

 

dongyoung stares at his phone and hugs it to his chest. 

  
  
  


monday

  
  
  


they both have lecture at the same time. dongyoung holds taeyong’s hand and kisses him gently on the lips when they’re meant to part.

 

this, he acknowledges, is actual, real routine. he will have a lecture and then another one, and then talk to jaebeom and dahyun somewhere lost in the campus. jaebeom brings his laptop and dahyun likes bringing weird, recycled jokes and colourful hair ties.

 

“so,” dahyun says, wiggling her eyebrows, “how’s loverboy?”

 

jaebeom glares at her, except his bangs have grown long and unruly and dongyoung can’t see his eyes very well. he just assumes. “i thought we agreed-”

 

“not you, skullhead,” dahyun says, snorting relatively unattractively. “i was talking to dong.”

 

“can you really not call me that?” dongyoung says. “taeyong is great. he’s really something else.”

 

they talk about jaebeom’s crush on the american transfer student with the purple hair, then talk about dahyun’s big mouth.

 

dongyoung returns to his room, and expectedly, taeyong hasn’t yet made an appearance. this time, he takes the little bit of time to shower and secretly use taeyong’s expensive vanilla shampoo and conditioner. it smells faintly of strawberries when he rubs it into his hair.

 

he walks out in a t shirt and sweatpants that really aren’t sweatpants. taeyong calls them the umbrellas- but they’re just a bit wider on the legs. yuta had brought him a japanese fashion magazine one time. dongyoung had learned.

 

taeyong comes home just a half hour later. 

 

“angel,” dongyoung says, and taeyong is walking through the room so quickly he almost doesn’t turn around.

 

so dongyoung moves for them both- he takes a quick stride and hugs taeyong, and when he feels taeyong smile into his neck and hold his neck he noses into taeyong’s hair and smells the scent of fresh kiwis. 

 

“how was your day, baby?” he asks taeyong.

 

“i’m tired,” taeyong replies and pouts. “gotta shower. quick!”

 

dongyoung kisses him once on the lips and lets him go, watching with the fondest eyes as taeyong walks into the washroom.

  
  
  


tuesday

  
  
  


on tuesday night, they go on a date to a quiet restaurant just outside campus perimeters. it is japanese, one of their shared favourites, and as dongyoung sits down he covers taeyong’s hand with his own.

 

“you’re not cold, are you?” he asks taeyong. he’s wearing a denim jacket and a white shirt- he can afford to donate a layer.

 

taeyong smiles at him and his eyes crinkle at the corners. “not when i have you.”

 

dinner goes amazingly well. dongyoung pours the tea into taeyong’s cup and taeyong does the same for him. they order premium sashimi and have it delivered on the prettiest wooden plate, and they hold hands as taeyong takes a picture- most likely for his blog.

 

at the end of the night, they split the bill and dongyoung makes sure to wrap his arms around taeyong when they walk back to the car. he opens the door and the first thing he notices is taeyong’s mobile on the passenger seat- cute, clear case with a polaroid of them stuffed into it.

 

“you must have left your phone in the car,” dongyoung says.

 

taeyong shrugs and picks it up, barely glancing at it as he slides it into his pocket. “at least it didn’t bother us.”

 

taeyong is right. there will always be time to check his messages, but there will always be time to spend with each other.

  
  
  


wednesday

  
  
  


dongyoung sees jaebeom holding the hand of the american transfer today. 

 

“impressive,” he says to dahyun, who’s standing by his side with the same raised eyebrow.

 

dahyun nudges his side. “never thought he’d have the guts.”

 

the american boy’s name is mark. 

  
  


_ taeyongie _

_ jae crashed again. we’re playing mario kart! _

 

_ dodongs _

_ i’ll be home in twenty minutes. tell him to get ready to have his ass beaten _

_ i love you angel _

 

_ taeyongie _

_ i love you more doie _

_ i will _

  
  


dongyoung hears mario kart before he sees mario kart. there’s absolutely no time to waste- as soon as he’s in the room, he makes his way to the bedroom, where jaehyun is sat on the floor and taeyong is sat on the bed- both with controllers in hand, one considerably more frustrated.

 

“calm down, baby,” dongyoung says to taeyong, whose eyebrows are furrowed up. he presses a kiss to his temple and ignores jaehyun’s gagging noise.

 

taeyong doesn’t have the multitasking capability to look up at dongyoung but he smiles and leans into dongyoung’s touch. 

 

later, dongyoung takes the controller from taeyong’s hand and wins five rounds in a row against jaehyun- he asks taeyong if he wants to play, but taeyong says he likes his position (with his head on dongyoung’s thigh) too much.

  
  
  


thursday

  
  
  


it’s almost friday, which means almost the weekend again. dongyoung can’t wait.

 

they are both at home in the morning. dongyoung feels a bit tired and sweaty from the night before. it had been mario kart, and after jaehyun had left, taeyong had lifted the sheets over themselves and kissed dongyoung so senseless he had no choice but to follow with taeyong’s train of thought.

 

he hadn’t had time to shower that night- especially when they slept hours after they had meant to. dongyoung lifts an arm and feels sticky- but more importantly, he sees taeyong peacefully sleeping on his chest, so he stretches his arm out and places it on taeyong’s back, running his palm up and down the exposed skin of taeyong’s back.

 

when taeyong rustles, dongyoung presses a kiss to the top of his head. “baby?” he says, and taeyong nuzzles into his chest. he’s awake. “good morning, baby,” he says softly.

 

“g’morning,” taeyong responds, voice muffled into dongyoung’s body,

 

he lets them both wake up for a little bit, warm up under the thick covers and in each other’s embrace. “baby, i think i have to shower now,” he says and lifts himself up to prop his back against the backboard.

 

“no,” taeyong says with will in his voice- more than dongyoung’s expects since it’s morning.

 

taeyong lifts his eyes all the way open and stares up at dongyoung.

 

“c’mon, we’re both gross,” dongyoung coaxes, but taeyong is firm on staying in bed.

 

and dongyoung is a sucker for taeyong, so he kisses up and down his neck as taeyong falls in and out of sleep again. he stares at taeyong’s face, how beautiful he is, and how the little sliver of sunlight coming through the curtains shines on taeyong’s pretty brown head of hair.

 

later, taeyong gets up first and asks to shower before dongyoung does. dongyoung agrees, and in his time alone in the bed, he finds taeyong’s online blog and scrolls down until he sees the picture of his denim-clad hand holding taeyong’s own smaller one.

  
  
  


friday

  
  
  


“is this new music?” dongyoung asks on friday night, when they’re both staying in from the chilly night and sharing earbuds. taeyong is controlling the music tonight, and he absent mindedly selects a song before returning to scrolling around on instagram.

 

“yeah,” taeyong says. “do you like it?”

 

dongyoung frowns and listens closer. it sounds less like the soft rhythm and blues taeyong normally likes and much more like a top 50s hit. it’s a surprising change, but taeyong is full of surprises.

 

“if you like it then i do too,” he decides.

 

taeyong squeezes his hand and gives him a small peck on the lips. 

  
  
  


saturday

  
  
  


saturday means the one day they both have no plans, but dongyoung is booked up today. he’s meeting with dahyun, jaebeom, and jaebeom’s boyfriend mark to talk about definitely important things.

 

“do you have any other cute friends?” dahyun asks jaebeom and mark. “i’d really like a boyfriend, too. all this talk about soulmates is making me iffy.”

 

“you’re the one asking all the questions,” dongyoung says.

 

they’re mostly here to interrogate mark, but he’s a soft spoken guy with a really nice laugh. dongyoung thinks they’re all getting along well- mark scolds jaebeom for doing little things like picking his nails.

 

“are you sure you aren’t gay?” jaebeom asks dahyun. “you hang out with us.”

 

dongyoung remembers when he would pick his nails, too. taeyong used to be annoyed at it, but these few weeks, he either has grown on it or hasn’t noticed it. either way, dongyoung is stopping- for both his and taeyong’s sake.

 

“absolutely positive,” dahyun responds.

 

“well,” mark says, “i’m friends with this girl from japan. her name is sana. do you know her?”

 

dongyoung gets a text from taeyong.

  
  


_ taeyongie _

_ when are you coming back? _

 

_ dodongs _

_ probably in a few hours. sorry! _

 

_ taeyongie  _

_ it’s ok! ^.^ _

  
  


“okay, maybe i’m a little gay,” dahyun confesses.

  
  
  


sunday

 

 

dongyoung prefers calling taeyong over texting him because he likes to hear his voice. it’s a fact that he’s told him much too many times before, so taeyong knows that dongyoung loves him and every single part of him.

 

today, there is no call. even when taeyong comes home and brings with him chinese food, dongyoung checks his call log and taeyong does not call nor pick up any of dongyoung’s.

 

he doesn’t ask about it, but he does look at taeyong’s instagram. on his story is a short video of him pulling at jaehyun’s hair.

 

taeyong on video is nothing compared to taeyong in real life. dongyoung stares at taeyong sometimes- it’s a habit that taeyong doesn’t mind. dongyoung traces taeyong’s defined features with his heart-eyes, sometimes feels the warmth coming from taeyong’s smile even in the coldest nights.

 

dongyoung, with his heart-eyes, sees only taeyong. he sees taeyong’s smile. feels taeyong’s hand in his. smells taeyong’s shampooed hair. hears taeyong whisper small, sweet nothings in his ear. tastes kiwi on his lips when he kisses him. 

 

and he knows he is in love. he says this to taeyong. taeyong says it back.

**Author's Note:**

> taeyong is cheating on dongyoung. he's just very good at hiding it.


End file.
